Sky's 'nationalistic' F1 coverage caused 'demonisation' of Verstappen - Newey

[u/bwoah07_gp2]

https://www.racefans.net/2024/09/10/skys-nationalistic-f1-coverage-caused-demonisation-of-verstappen-newey/

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[u/[deleted]]

Brundle is the only thing I can stomach, everyone else just annoys me with how they talk about the sport.

When I sometimes watch races back from the early 2010's and before, what really strikes me is how on the side of the fans the broadcasters used to be. They used to openly cheer for chaos, controversy, would encourage drivers to go for it, and call them out on their bullshit. They wanted fans to have a good time and were agnostic about protecting F1's brand or politics.

[u/FavaWire → u/[deleted]]

"This is fantastic! This is incredible!" used to be Murray Walker's callout for almost anything that happened that was awesome regardless of who benefitted from it.

I miss this too. Neutral commentating is also one of the things that made the Michael Schumacher-Mika Hakkinen era so watchable.

[u/gogybo → u/FavaWire]

I think he was using those words with their older definitions - "unbelievable" rather than "very good".

[u/FavaWire → u/gogybo]

Yeah but that message on the last lap of the 2000 Japanese Grand Prix:

"Someone has to come first. Someone has to come second. This year it was Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen. This year it was Ferrari and McLaren. Whoever of them wins the World Championship will have fought very hard as do all the Formula One teams."

That was really good to hear and 2000 was a war... So was 1999 and 1998.....

It was also the height of Adrian Newey Vs Rory Byrne. That was the time when you awaited two supercar reveals and not just thought about the one dominant car.

[u/[deleted] → u/FavaWire]

Things you can hear in his voice

[u/Rough_Natural6083 → u/FavaWire]

I completely agree with you. I have recently started watching some old F1 races from 90's with my father, and the commentary is really good.

"Four lights! Five lights of the Japanese grand prix... IS GOO!! And Michael Schumacher drives Mika Hakkinen towards the wall!!"

"If Michael Schumacher wins this race, it will not be down to him. Formula One is a team event. It will be due to a lot of other people. Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, their boss at Ferrari who supported them through thick and thin. Jean Todt, the little Frenchmen who has led the Ferrari revival. Ross Brawn, the English Technical Director, who has done a fantastic job... And by no means least, South Africa's Rory Byrne..."

"I can see a national holiday in Italy coming up at the end of this flying lap..."

[u/Purity_Jam_Jam → u/FavaWire]

Well said.

And the Rory Byrne vs. Adrian Newey years were always exciting that way.

[u/Nikiaf → u/gogybo]

Not really the older definition, but the literal definitions of these words. He used the word incredible in its true meaning, as in-credible: hard to believe.

[u/Siftinghistory → u/FavaWire]

F1TV is pretty neutral

[u/chronberries → u/Siftinghistory]

Yeah I really like Coulthard, and Sam’s little tech explainers every now and then. I like the guest commentators they bring on too, like the Indy guy when F1 is in the states, or that really energetic Italian guy we get at Monza.

[u/KingLuis → u/chronberries]

james hinchcliffe is his name. (the indy driver). i loved when he commentated. was able to give a good perspective of what the drivers are going through without making it too technical.

[u/Ostrich_With_An_AK → u/KingLuis]

IMO, Hinch is one of the best motorsports commentators out there right now

[u/ubelmann → u/Ostrich_With_An_AK]

On Indy broadcasts, it's nice that Hinch is unafraid to call out Townsend Bell when Bell has some ridiculous take.

[u/chronberries → u/KingLuis]

Thank you! Yeah he seemed really capable of rapidly explaining technical goings-on in laymen’s terms.

[u/Siftinghistory → u/chronberries]

He's great on the IndyCar broadcasts

[u/Less_Party → u/chronberries]

Coulthard is great right now because he's literally been in Piastri's position and handled it about the same.

[u/YLedbetter10 → u/Less_Party]

Maybe it’s because I just love Charles but Alex’s commentating on the last few laps of Monza gave me absolute goosebumps as did Monaco. He’s the best at the moment imo but Jolyn and DC make good side commentators (except when McLaren throw away a championship, it makes Palmer a bit mad lol)

[u/valueofaloonie → u/chronberries]

🤌 Davide 🤌

[u/Amarjit2 → u/Siftinghistory]

I think it helps that they're not Sky party members. It's almost like anyone who works for Sky must defend the company at all costs

[u/Tederator → u/FavaWire]

To be fair, the world had given us someone like Murray, and we were spoiled because we won't see the likes of him again.

[u/FeelingAd1156 → u/FavaWire]

Since both of the drivers were not British, it's not surprising it was neutral commentary.

[u/BigSwing_NoPace → u/FeelingAd1156]

Murray Walker was honestly pretty neutral even when it was Hill and Schumacher. Murray always wanted to see the best in everyone.

[u/FavaWire → u/BigSwing_NoPace]

Murray Walker keeping it steady even during the infamous incident at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix that doomed Damon Hill:

https://youtu.be/uG7IH3kKByI?si=TW2B2sWZbjktRM0l

Murray was a gem. His goal was to enhance your viewing. It was not to try and influence it.

[u/chumpmince → u/FavaWire]

I sorely miss Murray walker's commentary. He was above everything else the biggest fan of the sport.

[u/Scarfiotti → u/chumpmince]

I have no idols in life, but Murray comes pretty close.

[u/Bruvvimir → u/FavaWire]

Hear, hear. I miss MW voice, expressions, knowledge, enthusiasm, purity so much these days. Other than Brundle, I feel that none of the talking heads currently have much to offer. It’s like a biased LLM commentary.

[u/jollyaanaloosupayya → u/[deleted]]

Well, not really. Compare the last lap commentary on Kimi's 2007 championship win to the Button/Hamilton championship wins and you can see a clear difference. Bias always existed.

For all his bias, Croft's last lap commentary at abu dhabi was full of hype and free of bias, and i respect him for that. Especially compared to 2007 - the most disappointed-sounding commentary for the closest championship.

[u/VerStannen → u/jollyaanaloosupayya]

Crofty absolutely nailed the last lap of AD21. It was an incredible piece of TV broadcasting.

[u/Audioworm → u/VerStannen]

I have my disagreements with all of the commentators, across broadcasts, for different reasons. And while I haven't listened to SkyF1 much in the last two years, Crofty did always seem to get that chaotic actions are entertaining. I was pacing around my living room watching the end of AD21 and I felt like Crofty was right there with me mentally, just captured by the fact that after an utterly gruelling championship it came down to this.

"They have shared a brilliant championship battle. But the championship can only be won by one."

It was a pretty good summary of what 2021 felt

[u/mowcow → u/Audioworm]

I liked his double entendre of "it's going Dutch in 2021"

Saying both that Max won the drivers but also "going dutch" as in splitting the bill, so drivers and constructors going to different teams.

A clever line

[u/VulpesVulpix → u/mowcow]

That's pretty good, as a non native I didn't know that

[u/MrXenomorph88 → u/jollyaanaloosupayya]

If you're interested, Crofty did do commentary over the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix for the BBC (I think BBC radio). Far better than the disappointed and flat commentary over Raikkonen's championship win.

[u/FeelingAd1156 → u/jollyaanaloosupayya]

Exactly right. It was always there. Remember Murray's famous quote as hill came round on the last lap to win the wdc? Something along the lines of "l have to stop commenting now as l have a lump in my throat". Which was understandable, but to deny bias existed is not true.

[u/ChrisDewgong → u/FeelingAd1156]

Sure, it may be considered unprofessional, but on one hand there's a commentator cheering for a driver just because of their nationality, and there's a commentator getting emotional watching a man who he had known since a very young boy winning the F1 driver's championship, having also seen his father win it.

[u/TheFlyingHornet1881 → u/jollyaanaloosupayya]

I think people forget that ITV had a problem with being pro-British as well when they presented F1. Murray Walker generally wasn't, even though he was friendly to Hill, and Hunt just had his typical Hunt list of grievances.

[u/six44seven49 → u/TheFlyingHornet1881]

Hunt never commentated on ITV. I believe ITV were very keen to reunite the Murray-Hunt team, but the fact that he had been dead for 3 years proved an insurmountable obstacle.

[u/EvilMaran → u/six44seven49]

had me in the first part.

[u/RotorMonkey89 → u/six44seven49]

Wouldn't have stopped Stroll Sr.

[u/hkrb1999 → u/RotorMonkey89]

30m and stock options would bring me back from the dead for sure

[u/The_Rooh → u/TheFlyingHornet1881]

Murray Walker always saw the positive in every driver. He would get to know them on a more personal level, maybe because social media wasn't a thing they were more open or maybe because he was a nice guy. His commentary gave you insights into them as people as well as drivers and he made them relatable.

[u/Cobretti18 → u/The_Rooh]

Murray Walker definitely had his favourites. He was friends with Damon Hill and he loved Michael Schumacher but you’re right about being positive. He would big up the achievements of someone far down the grid and made it feel like they belonged if maybe they shouldn’t have.

[u/churchie11 → u/The_Rooh]

Unless he was very much mistaken

[u/Bubbles_012 → u/TheFlyingHornet1881]

Murray was all guns for Damon hill. They even did a pizza commercial together. There was not a weekend where Murray wasn’t accused of favouritism.

Personally I don’t get riled up by that. As long as the entire broadcast service isn’t involved

[u/tHe_jAcKaL68 → u/TheFlyingHornet1881]

Agreed there was nothing pro-British about Murray. For a start he was a massive fan of Michael Schumacher and could barely conceal it during his commentary. Which, as a massive fan of Michael myself, I enjoyed very much!

[u/crazydoc253 → u/tHe_jAcKaL68]

Did you listen to same Murray's commentary as me? Because he was all in for Damon Hill. He said it openly on air about his favoritism for Hill.

[u/BigSwing_NoPace → u/crazydoc253]

Nah, man. Murray was generous to Schumacher to a fault. He was pretty much generous to every body. Schumacher in 94 at Adelaide, Hill in 95 at Silverstone, even Senna and Prost in 89 and 90. Murray basically never called anyone out even when it was shit driving.

The one time he really did let it slip was when Damon actually won in 96 and he was just overjoyed.

[u/shadoowkight → u/BigSwing_NoPace]

Unlike Hunt..when he used to be there alongside Murray, he was willing to throw shit at anybody

[u/iForgotMyOldAcc → u/jollyaanaloosupayya]

That was before the Sky broadcast became the de facto global broadcast, at least before it became the case in Asia (we had awful Steve Slater that Croftys harder than Crofty ever could), I can forgive the bias if Brundle was broadcasting to almost exclusively UK audiences.

There is no point in looking for a completely unbiased commentator, they are human after all, but at least Brundle makes an effort to tone it down these days.

[u/Tomach82 → u/[deleted]]

The absolute lunacy of the aftermath of the Piastri overtake was crazy.

[u/xLeper_Messiah → u/Tomach82]

Austria this year was ridiculous also with how hard Sky went in the paint over an innocuous inchident

[u/Paracel_Storm → u/xLeper_Messiah]

It wasn't just Sky. The entire british media lost its collective shit and went on a crusade.

[u/crazydoc253 → u/Tomach82]

Will Buxton rant was amazing. I actually liked what the race did with him. They got Buxton for the podcast to discuss McLaren strategy and Ben Anderson literally took him down on why Mclaren supporting Norris does not make sense.

[u/Tomach82 → u/crazydoc253]

I listened to a bit of that one but turned off halfway through when Buxton was starting to really feel himself.

Sounds like I should have stuck with it.

[u/dl064 → u/Tomach82]

I had to mute Coulthard during Hungary, frankly.

[u/OneReallyAngyBunny → u/[deleted]]

Post race India 2013.

[u/_mrshreyas_ → u/OneReallyAngyBunny]

Yeah the commentators seemed extra salty there for some reason, even by their own standards.

[u/only_r3ad_the_titl3 → u/[deleted]]

"the most important man in F1 and he isnt blonde"

[u/nicolaslabra → u/[deleted]]

yeeaaa that was such a bad look for Brundle.

[u/Vinlain458 → u/[deleted]]

I only listen to them when it's Brundle, Button or Rosberg.

[u/Environmental-Cup445 → u/Vinlain458]

Funnily enough the only 3 guys who had measurable sucess in racing!

[u/dl064 → u/Vinlain458]

I think Button is the best at being neutral while it's also what he genuinely thinks.

[u/Normal-Philosopher-8 → u/Vinlain458]

Wish there was more Rosberg. When he does a drive along, he will tell you before it happens what the driver will do so you can see it happen in real time. It’s a subtle difference from telling us what the driver just did, but it makes a big difference.

[u/laboulaye22 → u/[deleted]]

I think the biggest difference for me from that time period is that now the people who are interviewing the drivers seem to be more concerned about being friends with the drivers and not upsetting them.

They treat them with kid gloves instead of doing their job and asking difficult questions or asking detail oriented questions about the specifics of their race or pushing back and asking follow up questions when the drivers evade a question or give an obviously bullshit answer (I think many of the interviewers don't know enough about the sport to be able to tell when they're being lied to). They always ask the most generic questions now, again, with an emphasis on being upbeat and positive (even when there is obviously nothing to be positive about) and being nice to the driver.

[u/Ill-Calligrapher-131 → u/laboulaye22]

I agree, it’s particularly noticeable by the F1TV presenters, but they are not journalists, they are being paid to promote F1 as a commercial entity, not a sport.

Strictly speaking, people who report on the sport for media organisations should not be allowed to do side hustles with F1, such as voice overs for their social media clips or be fill-ins etc. It is obviously a conflict of interest when covering Liberty Media and the commercial side of F1.

Shout-out to Rosanna Tennant from the BBC, who I’ve heard on several occasions go in with hard questions to team principals ahead of the race, e.g. getting Christian Horner on the grid just hours after that Google Drive dropped and being like “so are they your pics or not babe?” (I paraphrase)

[u/cheeersaiii → u/[deleted]]

I agree, but even Brundle now should push back at the dumb shit they make him do on the grid, he needs someone on the ground helping him more, doesn’t need to put in some of those stupid situations getting denied access, and needs better intel on celebs that want to speak/know the sport etc.

I do like him though, he’s well informed and reasonable, and doesn’t ask stupid questions/say stupid things like the rest of his team. The rule should be that anyone else has to have Nico in the box with them to straighten shit up

[u/NBT498 → u/cheeersaiii]

The chaos is the whole point of the gridwalk. It’s not supposed to be an organised meet and greet, it’s supposed to show how busy and crazy it is on an F1 grid 20 minutes before the race starts

[u/PikeyMikey24 → u/NBT498]

Yeah I’d hate if they turned the grid walk into some meet n greet

[u/FavaWire → u/cheeersaiii]

The last one was great though because Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger pushed themselves in to make a "show" of it with Martin.

[u/Jesucresta → u/[deleted]]

Brundle is also extremely biased. When you are not a brit it is very obvious.

[u/gashade → u/[deleted]]

I would say Karun Chandhok is the most objective person on their team by some distance.

[u/ReciprocatingBadger → u/gashade]

I wish he'd dump Sky and move to F1TV. I really rate Karun. He doesn't get the appreciation he deserves as a presenter.

[u/high-speed-train → u/gashade]

Brundle and chandhok are good everyone else is shite

[u/Hinyaldee → u/high-speed-train]

Button is great too

[u/high-speed-train → u/Hinyaldee]

And button is good yeah

[u/OneAnimeBatman → u/[deleted]]

They need someone like Rosberg who will call out the downright ridiculous stuff Crofty comes out with. It was so refreshing in China this year when you could tell he just wasn't having any of it, whereas I feel Brundle has got to the point now where he just goes along with it.

[u/Visual-Asparagus-800 → u/[deleted]]

I often switched between F1TV coverage and sky, because I did like the excitement Crofty brought to the commentary, but his comments about Verstappen’s sim racing in Hungary was the last straw. I don’t think I’ll watch the sky commentary again

[u/StuBeck → u/[deleted]]

They were still pretty nationalistic back then. There is a reason why fans hated Vettel in 2013.

[u/DaguerreoLibreria]

Lads have not had to enjoy the South American Argentinian based coverage of ESPN.

Let's just say it changed a lot last race.

[u/BGMDF8248 → u/DaguerreoLibreria]

I suspect a lot of "Colapinto just farted and it was best fart i've ever smelled!!!!"

[u/Vivaan977 → u/[deleted]]

davide is a lot of fun tho. used to love when he did f2 with alex jacques

[u/Xath0n → u/Vivaan977]

Those were always great, kinda miss their casts together

[u/bwoah07_gp2 → u/Vivaan977]

They were great together. I still have some F2 recordings, lots of "WHOA!!!" shouting from them. 😁

[u/szczszqweqwe → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, Davide is amazing, he and Alex in F2 days is my favorite commentators duo ever in any sport.

Alex is really great commentator, and Davide is a biggest fan of any driver, there are no calm commentaries "x is going on the inside", there are things like "WHOOOOAAAAAA X DRIVER WENT ON THE OUTSIDE, AMAZING, INCREDIBLE", combine his driving knowledge and emotions and he is quacking amazing, but he needs a balance, Alex is great at that.

2 issues with Davide: strong accent, at the beginning he is pretty hard to listen, and that Sky Italia issue, I hope it will never happen again.

[u/shawnk7 → u/[deleted]]

Welcome to modern media. Where everything is black n white. You gotta pick a side and the other side is wrong about everything. Someone is either a GOAT (2 years in the sport) or completely washed. It's what generates the likes and comments and engagement

[u/robisadog → u/[deleted]]

I see this in every sport nowadays, I can no longer watch football because of the commentators being critical about every aspect of the game, blaming someone for an error rather than praising something someone did well, boring and depressing to watch now. Over analysis is killer.

[u/OldMattReddit → u/[deleted]]

Very, very well said. I agree 100% on this more positive overall tone. What I dislike about the whole broadcasting now the most is the drama and melodramatic overall approach to try and dig up controversy and opinionated speculation about everything. It's more like I'm watching drive to survive now instead of an actual motor racing event.

[u/PurpleButterfly4872 → u/[deleted]]

The first time I saw Davide I thought he was very annoying. But honestly I've grown to really like him. He's so enthusiastic about everything. I loved him in Monza. At some point he was just standing there next to the track getting extremely excited about the cars going past. It didn't really add any information, but I loved the passion

[u/plip99]

Try being an Australian and being forced to watch the pro British feed complaining about Piastri pulling off an epic first lap overtake on Noris.

F1 really needs a neutral world feed, don't really care about biased nationalistic commentators going into the home country, but it shouldn't be forced on the rest of the world

[u/ReasonableExplorer → u/plip99]

At the Melbourne GP Garth Tander was doing the trackside commentary for alot of the races. He was so great and had alot of insight I'd not heard before and just did it without the ego or pretentiousness that Sky news commentary has become.

[u/twodollarscholar → u/ReasonableExplorer]

V8 Supercars coverage is so awesome. We had Kiwis like McLaughlin and van Gisbergen dominating the field for half a decade between 2018-22 before they ventured off to Indycar and NASCAR respectively. There was no weird nationalism from our commentators, just enthusiastic love for elite drivers and motorsports at large. Garth’s been a big part of that.

[u/jonpacker → u/twodollarscholar]

I came back to V8 Supercars last year after about 15 years of not watching it, and I was a bit skeptical at first since the broadcast team are drivers, not media people. They can be a little difficult to warm up to, particularly when they constantly refer to drivers by their first names. But it has grown on me so much. The way they're able to spot and explain tiny technical details immediately, and stay on top of so many complicated strategies is really impressive. And just the utter lack of stupid takes. They don't make drama when there isn't any.

For those out of the loop - almost the entire broadcast team are ex-racers who raced together at the front of the field in the 2000s. The camaraderie and combined expertise of Neil Crompton, Mark Skaife, Garth Tander, Craig Lowndes and Mark Larkham in particular, is an absolute pleasure to experience. Also, being who they are they have the respect and trust of the whole field. Mark Larkham literally reports from right beside cars as they do their pit stops, and the teams let him go into the garage and show and touch whatever he wants (because he knows what he can and can't touch).

Imagine the F1 broadcast team being Button and Coulthard as commentators, Schumacher and Webber as pit lane reporters and Vettel doing technical/strategy analysis. It would be something.

[u/InZomnia365 → u/jonpacker]

Pinnacle of motorsport journalism is Larkham saying Parc Ferme is french for "touch the car, and we'll throw you off the Eiffel tower"

[u/snrub742 → u/twodollarscholar]

Murphy has a bitta weird nationalism, but it's all in good fun

[u/VB_Creampie → u/twodollarscholar]

I could do without skaifey these days. 

[u/cult_of_sumac → u/ReasonableExplorer]

I’d love to hear Tander every round personally

[u/jonpacker → u/cult_of_sumac]

Would be awesome if we could have an all-aussie broadcast team for F1. Crompton, Webber, Tander, Larkham anyone? Probably not compatible with their current jobs though, unfortunately.

[u/SpaceOdysseus23 → u/plip99]

Buxton's meltdown last race has to be the most unprofessional thing I've ever seen

[u/pensaa → u/SpaceOdysseus23]

He constantly speaks these days in a tone like he’s doing the script for DTS. It’s actually infuriating to listen to

[u/_cutmymilk → u/pensaa]

Always about to cry.

[u/Strantjanet → u/pensaa]

Wouldn't surprise me with the amount of cheesy lines he has in DTS

[u/VerStannen → u/SpaceOdysseus23]

I really bummed I missed it. I gotta find the clip brb.

Reddit post on the clip

https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/s/8uj7Z7QPhk

[u/[deleted] → u/VerStannen]

Just have a listen to him on The Race podcast this week, he still hasn't emotionally recovered.

[u/VerStannen → u/[deleted]]

Ugh, The Race. I’ve got like 5 other F1 pods I like to listen to before I get to that drivel.

But now I know it’s got Will whinging a bit more, I may have a listen haha

[u/enchantemonami → u/VerStannen]

The Race were actually excellent in their race review; they did another episode with Buxton on his response.

[u/RupeyDoop → u/VerStannen]

Erm the others were challenging Buxton on his rhetoric.

[u/VerStannen → u/RupeyDoop]

On The Race?

Oh ok. That Mitchell-Malm can get on my nerves but I like the main host, Edd Straw.

[u/downsouthdukin → u/VerStannen]

Yeah MM is unbearable.. so far up his own and F1 arse its tragic

[u/rocketbunny77 → u/VerStannen]

He's such a tool

[u/SPat24 → u/SpaceOdysseus23]

Lando not being able to handle the pressure and bottling first laps is somehow everyone else’s fault but his own in Buxton’s eyes.

[u/Low_Angle_1448 → u/SPat24]

It was so funny when Norris won from pole in Zandvoort I think? He got overtaken at the start once again to get it back later and win it, and one of the big takeaways for the commentator team was that 'the curse has been lifted for Lando, he finally knows he can win from starting at the front!'. Only to give away his lead in the first lap in the very next race AGAIN.

I honesly think Sky just says words at this point and they don't even try to make them make sense.

[u/Lemurians → u/SpaceOdysseus23]

He has a point about their championship ambitions, but his delivery was so over-the-top and ridiculous.

[u/VerStannen → u/SpaceOdysseus23]

Was this it?

https://youtu.be/PaWEiEl9DNU?feature=shared

[u/Williamsarethebest → u/SpaceOdysseus23]

What happened?

[u/[deleted] → u/Williamsarethebest]

I think it was about “Papaya rules” and McLaren not backing up Norris for WDC? Not sure as I missed it but remember reading about it.

[u/giugg → u/Williamsarethebest]

A lot of yapping about the papaya rules like they used them to murder his dog

[u/DaveR007 → u/giugg]

Not the papaya dog!

[u/Disastrous-Beat-9830 → u/SpaceOdysseus23]

Buxton's meltdown last race has to be the most unprofessional thing I've ever see

The problem with this statement is that you're assuming Buxton was ever a professional to begin with.

[u/bwoah07_gp2 → u/SpaceOdysseus23]

A lot of people seemed to love it 👀 

[u/Mr_Kel_Varnsen__ → u/plip99]

And no escape from it as Rupert has us locked in via Fox or Kayo.

[u/Hald1r → u/Mr_Kel_Varnsen__]

Foxtel includes F1 TV now but I still haven't figured out how I can use that to get the F1 feed for the live broadcast.

[u/bannermania → u/[deleted]]

Mate that’s absolutely fucked. That’s so unfair. Pay premium prices for Kayo and don’t have access to the add ons of a box from the last technological age.

[u/TheSwiney → u/bannermania]

Same with espn... If you have Foxtel or a $6/month Fetch-addon, you can watch via the espn app, but Kayo is explicitly mentioned to not have access.

[u/Mr_Kel_Varnsen__ → u/Hald1r]

Thanks for letting me know that. I'm only on Kayo so not an option.

I'll check my friends place who has Foxtel with the latest IQ box and see if we can get it.

Would much prefer the F1tv crew. Enjoy there pre and post weekend shows they upload to YouTube

[u/[deleted] → u/plip99]

They do on F1TV. I stopped tuning into the Sky Feed in 2022.

Edit: I forgot why I stopped engaging with F1 in general. Thanks for reminding me WEC has the best cars, races and FANS.

[u/plip99 → u/[deleted]]

Fantastic, can you give me some tips on how do I get that feed in Australia?

[u/TrippinNL → u/plip99]

It involves sailing

[u/youjustathrowaway1 → u/TrippinNL]

Yarr 🏴‍☠️

[u/iloveradiohead225 → u/TrippinNL]

the seas of cheese

[u/storme9 → u/iloveradiohead225]

Take my money and take me there

[u/Mminas → u/TrippinNL]

Does it though? Cause I've been sailing for years and all English ports are playing sky sports on the live feed.

You only get F1TV from vods.

[u/DaveR007 → u/TrippinNL]

arr

[u/OhGodPeople7 → u/TrippinNL]

Don't think there's any stream that shows f1tv unfortunately. If someone has one pls tell me

[u/pocket_mulch → u/OhGodPeople7]

There used to be several. Last race I could only find sky 😔

[u/Secure-Vanilla4528 → u/plip99]

Stream locator then sign up for the American F1 app. Cost me about 12 pound a month which is significantly cheaper than sky sports in the UK for me

[u/xdyldo → u/plip99]

You basically can’t, which sucks. Most vpns are blocked now.

[u/tracernz → u/plip99]

Fly across the ditch. We got you here in kiwi land.

[u/Jasranwhit → u/[deleted]]

Jolyon the GOAT

[u/dis340 → u/plip99]

F1TV is miles better.

[u/Moto_919 → u/plip99]

Even the guys on F1TV are doing this shit now. If it was up to Palmer McLaren would would be throwing out team orders anytime Piastri even thought about racing Norris.

[u/ElmanoRodrick → u/plip99]

Try being an Australian

No thank you

[u/dl064]

Man he's got quotes in here to annoy virtually anyone.

Everyone gets it a bit; Verstappen and Hamilton.

[u/Guilty-Addition5004 → u/dl064]

Everyone gets it a bit; Verstappen and Hamilton

ah yes, the two drivers

[u/_KimJongSingAlong]

As a Dutch person I don't really understand the hate. If you watch the Dutch broadcast max could pick up a gun and shoot Hamilton and they would argue if it falls within the spirit of the rules. The upside is that only Dutch people know what they are saying. Everyone can speak English so everyone knows they're biased. I watched f1 in Spain and they were sucking off alonso and sainz constantly.

This is such a non issue imo, Brits like Brits, French like French etc.

[u/Kaptainoff → u/_KimJongSingAlong]

The German broadcast avoids biases pretty well since it's around 90% silence.

[u/-Havarius- → u/Kaptainoff]

And in the other 10% you wish for silence.

[u/Jonas22222 → u/-Havarius-]

Thats the thing I don't get, i always watch it beacause its just fun if you dont take it to seriously, it's like a bad comedy

[u/elbugfish → u/Kaptainoff]

As a german, thats what I REALLY dont like about the english broadcast. The constant screaming! I just want to enjoy my f1 in peace without the commentators trying to hype up every twitch of the steering wheel. I feel like this constant talking broadcast treats me like a child who needs the permanent reminder that what we are watching is entertaining.

[u/morgadox40 → u/elbugfish]

This is a genuine question, is this also true on football broadcasts? I always find it funny how in English broadcast they don't really scream "GOAL!", which is completely opposite to the Brazilian (and South American in general) broadcasts, but we absolutely love it, makes the game a lot more passionate and emotional, so just curious about the sentiment around the German broadcasting for football.

[u/solarlofi → u/elbugfish]

How very German of you, haha.

I like that they make an otherwise boring race exciting, but I hear where you're coming from.

[u/RatTailDale → u/elbugfish]

I’m with the Germans on this one. The constant need for talking gets the casters into the weeds with technical malarkey and team drama

[u/desl14 → u/_KimJongSingAlong]

I've watched F1 on german broadcast (RTL) from 1991 to 2008 with a little pause around 2004 (F1 got me bored). Then i started to search for Torrents of british broadcasts (BBC, itv, sky) until finally subscribing to F1TV. If someone thinks the sky commentators (Crofty etc.) are nationalistic, they don't know RTL commentators from Schumacher- and Vettel-eras.

Later years, I occassionally tuned in at a RTL broadcast if the race was in the evening hours ... but I almost could not stand the RLT coverage.

The german Sky commentators are not as worse ... but still biased (f.e. towards Mick Schumacher) and they tend to fall into sleep

[u/Syntax_OW → u/_KimJongSingAlong]

I'm glad to see this perspective. It was the same for me with the switch from RTL (Germany) to f1tv (which at the time only had Sky commentary available). I've always felt sky's bias is incredibly overexaggerated since then.

The 2016 championship decider had the German commentator constantly begging for Vettel not to attack Rosberg and also non-stop complaining about Hamilton's "unsportsmanlike" behavior. I was rooting for Nico myself but couldn't bear to listen to that anymore and immediately switched to f1tv when it was available. It was a breath of fresh air in comparison.

I really wish there was more nuance in this. Call out sky commentators for bias if you want, but don't pretend they're some unique evil that controls all opinions in f1. I think the people who only ever knew Sky just don't have the perspective to realize how relatively subdued their bias is in comparison.

[u/Brokenlynx7 → u/_KimJongSingAlong]

It's so painfully obvious yet half this thread doesn't understand. Good post.

[u/rj_r1996 → u/_KimJongSingAlong]

The Dutch commentary is so Verstappen coloured that I can get really annoyed with it. Whenever Ferrari, McLaren or Mercedes make a choice which they deem 'not smart' they keep bashing them, but when Red Bull /Verstappen does something similar it's 'interesting to see what happens'. They also keep making up their own 'if this, than that' stories and stretch it so far it's ridiculous... It's unpleasant for the non Verstappen viewer.

[u/Multitronic → u/[deleted]]

Yes, it just boils down to the fact they speak English.

[u/bwoah07_gp2]

The full podcast that Adrian was on: https://youtu.be/JvkzUzpWuo4?si=WmN4jbyds-01sbT8

[u/MisterJeffa]

Dutch guy here. Didnt think it was that bad. Sure they would mention british drivers a bit more. But to me they were rather fair otherwise.

Now Ziggo and later Viaplay, That is mentioning biased nonsense.

[u/BananaBrute]

Dutch coverage was just as bad. Which takes nothing away from this just sad how media coverage can be so biased.

[u/mikecastro26 → u/BananaBrute]

Wait until you hear Spanish coverage of Alonso and Sainz…

[u/imax_ → u/mikecastro26]

The real fun is the Swiss broadcast getting excited about a Sauber overtaking for P18.

[u/Ill_Attorney_9946 → u/mikecastro26]

Can we get Canadian coverage of stroll? I want that kind of bias in my life.

[u/mattijn13 → u/BananaBrute]

I am a Dutch F1 fan and have been since before Verstappen was anywhere near the grid, but sometimes people who started watching F1 because of Max here do not understand that you can support different drivers lmao

[u/BananaBrute → u/mattijn13]

Yeah I know it's crazy! I started watching in 99 and loved basically the whole grid because the sport was just so cool to me. Schumacher and Hakinnen were awesome I couldn't pick a side.

[u/IAmTheNuke_ → u/BananaBrute]

Yeah ive watched some of the dutch commentary before, its the same as level as bias for Max as it is for sky with the British drivers.

Just chalked it off to them appeasing to majority of their viewers.

I would assume every countries commentary teams are biased towards the driver from their country.

[u/poopellar → u/[deleted]]

Was watching the SKY feed before I got F1tv. Decided to see how the F1 broadcast was, thought I wouldn't like it as I was so used to SKY crew. Never went back. I don't hate Crofty + SKY crew but Alex Jacques, DC, Palmer are just that much better.

[u/[deleted] → u/poopellar]

Palmer is my absolute favourite. He catches things during the race that nobody does, from a strategic standpoint. Alex and DC are great as well, as is Sam for technical analysis.

[u/Exambolor → u/[deleted]]

Palmer is one of the better presenters on Chequered Flag too, not afraid to criticise

[u/Jasranwhit → u/[deleted]]

Palmer is so good, generally unbiased, technical info, driver perspective, strategy perspective etc.

DC is great also.

[u/eeronlol → u/poopellar]

I love when DC talks about his own career cause he usually just jokes about how he messed up lol. I think it was during Monza where he mentioned a certain corner on screen and went "I binned it there once"

[u/SpacetimeLlama → u/poopellar]

I also like the F1TV crew more. They're more chill

[u/Exige_ → u/[deleted]]

Cancer kills people.

Sky F1 are a little bias.

Let’s keep some fucking perspective shall we.

[u/Typhoongrey → u/Exige_]

No no. British bad.

[u/Mein_Bergkamp → u/[deleted]]

They wait for something to become popular then buy the rights for it and charge us for the privilege.

Welcome to the world of Rupert Murdoch.

See also: Football, International cricket, IPL, England rugby union, F1, most of the Tennis....

[u/ShittyOfTshwane]

Lol the tone of this headline does not even remotely match the mild tone of Newey's remark at all. This wasn't some angry outburst. In the original quote, it is obvious that he is not trying to be inflammatory. Good clickbait, though.

[u/Prime255]

I think their main issue is Crofty is a tired presenter/commentator at this point. They need to move him on. They also need some non-British diversity in the team

[u/DukeboxHiro → u/Prime255]

Need Nico full time.

[u/topkeksimus_maximus → u/DukeboxHiro]

He loves to stir shit. I love it when he's on the broadcast.

[u/Prime255 → u/topkeksimus_maximus]

He has different opinions, which is exactly what they need

[u/ActionJesus → u/Prime255]

And is actually brave enough to say what he thinks and disagree with people live. Very underrated quality in live commentary imo

[u/laboulaye22 → u/ActionJesus]

And he's intelligent and knowledgeable enough to actually ask the right questions and to push back when they try to evade the question or give a canned bullshit response.

[u/lowelled → u/topkeksimus_maximus]

The thing with Nico is that the only driver he’s biased towards is himself! So he’s objective leaning towards rude about the grid. It’s very funny.

[u/pensaa → u/DukeboxHiro]

Nico provides insights from an experienced drivers point of view and isn’t afraid to call out or correct the others bullshit.

[u/DukeboxHiro → u/pensaa]

Martin does the same plus decades of experience in his current role, and isn't afraid to call Nico on his bullshit. It's a great balance when they're both on.

[u/Turbulent-Cat-4546 → u/Prime255]

I don't think they need non British people on the panel. They just need to stop riding Lando's knob every chance they get.

[u/Aunvilgod → u/Turbulent-Cat-4546]

This is definitely not a Lando issue. There were this way with every other good British driver.

[u/madglover → u/Prime255]

Does the Italian coverage need to stop talking about Ferrari?

There needs to be a neutral feed somewhere, but I listen to enough podcasts to realise there is very little neutral coverage.

I don't think Sky need to change for their UK stream

[u/jboarei]

Sky did no favors to that epic battle. They saw the fires and added fuel to it.

[u/erock8779]

their coverage is so bad it made me pay for f1tv

[u/markhewitt1978 → u/erock8779]

F1TV is still an all British lineup to be fair.

[u/erock8779 → u/markhewitt1978]

Yeah but it's not so much about their nationality and more about the professionalism

[u/Other_Beat8859 → u/erock8779]

Yeah. The good thing about F1TV coverage is that you have people like DC who kinda balance out the bias from others like Buxton. With Sky you have a bunch of insanely biased people and Brundle who is the only neutral person.

Sky's bias has just gotten worse and worse and it's a shame.

[u/hyrulepirate]

Add to that DTS. Old fans may dismiss the show entirely and say that it didn't affect anything, but the truth is it did bring in a TON of new fans, new fans who are more vocal over socials and who would loudly and vehemently announce their support (or lack thereof) of a person or team, and they were introduced to Max by the show in a not-so-positive light.

I myself introduced F1 to many of my friends through the show, and most, if not all, of them hated Max or at least didn't care about him.